Spotted Lake,
September 2000 – the water in the "spots" reflects the
hillside and the sky.

Spotted Lake, September 2001 – a much drier year, with only a
small part of the lake still containing enough water to reflect
the hills and the sky. Spotted Lake can be spotted from Highway
3, 8.8 kms (5.5 miles) west of Osoyoos. It is a rare natural
phenomenon covering 15.2 hectares (38 acres), containing one of
the world's highest concentrations of minerals: magnesium
sulfate (epsom salts), calcium and sodium sulfates, plus eight
other minerals and traces of four more, including silver and
titanium. As the summer progresses the lake dries out, its mud
forming into white, pale yellow, green and blue circles
depending on its mineral composition. Known as Kliluk to
the natives of the Okanagan Valley, the lake is a sacred and
culturally significant site whose potential for commercial
exploitation recently generated much controversy.

The therapeutic quality of the waters has been known for
millenia--the Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce website offers a
legend wherein a truce was declared in a battle to allow both
warring tribes to tend to their wounded in the lake. The
minerals were also easily harvested during the First World War,
with Chinese labourers skimming up to a ton a day of salts from
the surface of the lake and shipping them to munitions factories
in eastern Canada. Although sacred to the Indians, the lake was
not on their reserves; it was on the ranch owned by the Ernest
Smith family of Osoyoos for about 40 years. Along the edge of
the lake today, surrounded by sagebrush and dog roses, there is
a ruined wooden building, perhaps from the 1950s or 1960s, on
which a painted sign advertises "Information - Gifts -
Souvenirs." Salt-encrusted pilings extend into the lake from
several points.

In 1979, Ernest Smith attempted to have the site rezoned to
permit the construction of a spa facility. The Okanagan elders
and chief opposed the application on the grounds that Spotted
Lake has historically been sacred to the Osoyoos Indian Band.
The opposition eventually led to politicians including Bill
Vander Zalm, then BC minister of municipal affairs, and John
Monroe, the federal minister of Indian affairs, supporting the
natives. Monroe made a commitment to the Okanagan people to
contribute funds to buy Spotted Lake for their use and mandated
a negotiating team to approach the owners about selling the
property. The site was appraised twice at an amount lower than
the $500,000 that would be available if the purchase were
approved by Indian Affairs. The Okanagan Nation Alliance,
comprised of First Nations from Osoyoos to Merritt, believed
reasonable offers were made, but the Smith family refused to
sell, so the government put the negotiations on hold.

Nearly 20 years later, in November 2000, the descendants of the
late Ernest Smith had the development barriers on Spotted Lake
lifted by the Supreme Court, and had mud extraction costs put
out for public tender with the intention of mining at least
10,000 tons of mud from lake for spa purposes, allegedly in
California. The Okanagan Nation Alliance was given a deadline of
April 13, 2001, to come up with the money for purchase; that
deadline was extended, and a deal was finally made late in
October, 2001, when it was announced that the Federal Government
and local natives had bought 22 hectares of land surrounding
Spotted Lake. The Indian Affairs Department paid $705,000
towards the property, and the Okanagan Nation Alliance paid the
remainder of the $720,000 purchase price.

The chronology above was developed from reports in the Osoyoos
Times by reporter Wendy Johnson, and on CBC radio's
Almanac program by Mark Forsythe.

Does anyone have any recollection of the "spa" operations at
the lake: was there an admission fee? What souvenirs and gifts
were sold? Mud? Did people come and camp on the shore?

Note from Scott Belgatty, 2010:
Spotted Lake is owned by the Crown and 25feet above high water
line all around the lake (the whole shore is crown) – all
lakes and creeks in Canada are Crown without exception - the
definition of a Crown waterway is - "a site with any measurable
water that exists for 7 days or more per 10 years , flowing or not
is Crown - and the 25ft exclusion zone next to the site."